Chef Gene Gonzalez on students Sarah Geronimo, Matteo Guidicelli

SINGAPORE — “They’re very intense,” Chef Gene Gonzalez said of his celebrity students, actors Sarah Geronimo and Matteo Guidicelli.

“They easily get what I’m teaching; they’re very professional and focused on what they’re doing,” the chef elaborated in an interview with Philstar.com during the recently concluded World Gourmet Summit in Singapore.

From actors Judy Ann Santos and Ryan Agoncillo, Chef Gene has been enjoying mentoring another celebrity couple, Sarah and Matteo.

In his Instagram posts, Chef Gene shared he taught Matteo cutting skills and vegetable cookery, while he praised Sarah for whipping eggs correctly and making mayonnaise, béarnaise and hollandaise from scratch.

Actor Matteo Guidicelli taking cooking lessons with Chef Gene  Instagram/Matteo Guidicelli

The chef’s son, Chef Gino, also posted on Instagram that Sarah was “being very focused” in plating her dish, grilled filet mignon with Cognac, demi-glace and béarnaise sauce.

“Egg-based sauces are one of the most challenging sauces to make because it requires technique and skill,” Gonzalez noted.

Actress Sarah Geronimo taking cooking lessons with Chef Gene  Instagram/Chef Gene Gonzalez

Apart from Sarah and Matteo, who fans fondly call Team Ashmatt, Chef Gene was happy to note that more and more celebrities are taking cooking classes. Among them, he said, are Ian Veneracion and Richard Gutierrez. Richard, said the chef, is taking lessons as preparation for a new TV series.

Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach also took classes at Chef Gene’s Center for Asian Culinary Studies.

According to the chef, he is thankful that all celebrities he mentored, so far, are very humble and not a “diva.”

Actor Richard Gutierrez having a dinner date with lady love Sarah Lahbati. Instagram/Richard Gutierrez